Anteaters Turn Back the Vandals

The finger pointing came fast and furious Saturday night, and always with a smile for UC Irvine. The Anteaters couldn’t share the credit enough after a 62-50 victory over Idaho in front of 1,785 at the Bren Center.

In the end, the credit mostly flowed to center Matt Willard.

He had humble numbers, to be sure--a season-high 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 17 minutes as a reserve. He just always seemed to be around in key moments.

Willard scored four points in a 7-2 run that gave Irvine a 34-28 lead five minutes into the second half. He blocked a Mao Tosi shot with Irvine up by four with three minutes left. He made three of four free throws to push the lead to 55-48 with two minutes left, part of the Anteaters’ 11-of-14 performance from the line in the final four minutes.

For a finale, Willard sank a 16-foot baseline jumper with 10 seconds left to polish off a victory that kept UCI atop the Western Division standings in the Big West Conference.

“The big man played a game,” guard Junior Bond said. “Coach [Pat Douglass ] has been working with him in practice and he turned it loose.”

There was a lot bottled up. Willard, a 6-foot-9 transfer from Butte Community College, missed a month of the season because of mononucleosis. He was averaging 4.8 points after scoreless games against New Mexico State and Boise State in the past week.

“The transition from junior college to college has been a big jump,” Willard said. “I think I finally felt comfortable. I felt good. I felt ready.”

Willard made four of five shots, but he couldn’t take full credit.

“It has been a different person stepping up the last few games,” guard Lamarr Parker said. “That’s good. It means everyone has to show up to play for us to win.”

There were many present and accounted for Saturday. The Anteaters (6-8, 3-1 in conference play) got 33 points from three reserves. Besides Willard, Adam Stetson had 12 and Parker scored 10, all in the second half.

Idaho was leading, 15-14, in the first half when Stetson scored six consecutive points. In the second half, he tipped in his miss to tie the score, 36-36, and then made four free throws late in game.

The Vandals were leading, 42-40, when Parker slashed the basket for a layup and was fouled with 7 minutes 21 seconds left. His free throw gave the Anteaters a lead they never relinquished. Parker’s tip-in gave Irvine a 49-44 lead with five minutes left.

“Matt had his best game, but those three all made big plays,” Douglass said. “Those three carried our offense in the second half.

There was little offense from the start.

Irvine jumped to an 8-0 lead, holding the Vandals (9-5, 3-1) scoreless for the first 8 minutes 27 seconds. Idaho missed eight shots and had four turnovers on its first 11 possessions before Troy Thompson made two free throws.

The Anteaters gave it back by going six minutes without a point later in the half. Still, Irvine led at halftime, 23-20, even though its guards were a combined zero for 11 and had two points.

“Idaho was going to come out strong after halftime,” Douglass said. “We made a statement,”

In many ways, the Anteaters also showed they were not about to be pushed around by a bigger team.

“We can’t let people come in here and abuse us,’ forward Juma Jackson said.

It got so rough, that on one play, seven players touched the ball--with four ending up on the ground--in a four-second span. Willard started it by slapping the ball away from Clifford Gray. Jackson followed by diving over--and through--two Idaho players to bat the ball up court. It ended with Irvine’s Jason Flowers being fouled and making two free throws.

The Anteaters roughed up Idaho guard Avery Curry, who was averaging 18 points. He made four of 16 shots and finished with 10 points.

Gray, a 6-5, 200-pound junior, muscled inside to score six consecutive points to give Idaho a 36-34 lead with 10 minutes left. Jackson then shut him down.